International Terrorism Essays - TurkeyISIL Conflict,

International Terrorism Terrorism is an element of modern society that cannot be escaped. Acts of terrorism occur during times of war and times of peace. Some are to prove a point, others to show defiance. Terrorism can never be completely eliminated because the human race will always find a reason for there to be violence. No culture is perfect. However, we can take steps to prevent such seemingly senseless attacks. Governments and their citizens must be better equipped to fight terrorism. Terrorism to most is thought of as a matter for the police to handle. This is the mentality that terrorists thrive on. Governments must be on top of terrorists and know the plans before they are put into action. Successful terrorists always find a way to stay one step ahead of the authorities. This has to stop. If a certain group claims responsibility for an act of terrorism, no matter what the motive may be, that group must be attacked with all possible resources. People must be willing to work together and unite. Most of the time, terrorism is the end result of people not getting along. Terrorism is an act of violence used to bring about change. Change can be made in other ways. Lives do not have to be lost. Terrorism depends heavily on three things: publicity (to get their ideas out to a mass audience, attract attention, and scare the public), discreteness (secrecy), and loyalty (the leader in command has full authority over those who work below he/she). Out of the three, publicity is most likely a terrorists best friend. Without an audience, there is no one to hear a terrorist. There is no reaction. The media just plays into this with 24 hour coverage of hostage situations like the one in late 1997 when a group of terrorists held members of the Peruvian government hostage form an extended period of time. Everyone from Australia to Hawaii knew about that incident. After the media stopped covering the story as it began to get old, it was almost like the incident never happened. Eventually the hostages were released. As far as discreteness goes, terrorists make all of their plans in complete secrecy. Usually in a terrorist group, members who are lower on the group totem pole can only identify one or two members on the inner circle. If governments were to go after these "little fish", though it would be a slow and tedious process, it could lead to bigger things. Going right to the heart of the problem isn't always the best way to get something done. Lastly, groups rely heavily on loyalty. That is why authorities must make a firm stand in saying that they will not negotiate with terrorists as the United States has. When a group is hold-up for a long time and their demands are not being met, peoples loyalty is tested. They begin to blame each other and eventually they breakdown. One of the leading causes of terrorism is a government repressing and persecuting its people and their beliefs. No where is this more true than in Turkey. The epicenter of violence in Turkey is the PKK. The Kurdistan Workers Party, known ass the PKK, is one of the best organized most violent group of terrorists in the world. They are an extremely tight-knit collection of thieves, murderers, fugitives and other hardened criminals. They began their attacks between the late 70's and early 80's. In order to understand the PKK's motives, you must first understand the history of the Kurdish people. It all started in 1928. For centuries, the Kurds had found a home in a section of the Middle East that is located for the most part in south-eastern Turkey. Because the Kurds could not establish an autonomous nation, they were persecuted by their host states who did not like having the Kurds in their territories (though their dwelling place was located primarily in Turkey, it also stretched into parts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria). Being that the majority of the Kurds were in Turkey, there was a social revolution and many languages and alphabets used by various ethnic groups were banned. The Kurds were one of these minorities and they became subject to a "campaign of repression" . This resulted in an uprise of radical groups. This is where the PKK organization came from. Between December of 1995 and the fall of 1996, there was a group cease-fire, however there were a few notable PKK attacks including a suicide bombing on a Turkish military parade. 9 were